


be the man i know you are meant to be

by shrewbuddy



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Final Battle, Heavy Angst, M/M, Post-Season/Series 08, Sheith Confessions, at least i hope not, context: i believe the final battle will be between haggar and keith, i wish this had a happy ending, this is not a prediction or anything
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-08
Updated: 2018-09-08
Packaged: 2019-07-08 10:57:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 972
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15929012
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shrewbuddy/pseuds/shrewbuddy
Summary: In the aftermath of the final battle between Haggar and the Earth's Defenders, Shiro reflects on what occurred during the conflict.Shiro found that the dreams - no, thenightmares- were too much to bear. Sleep had evaded him for weeks now. Every time he closed his eyes, the image of those crystal-cut, purple eyes staring back at him projected onto his eyelids. If he had known that was the last time he would see those eyes, he would have taken in all the details surrounding them - preserved the memory. It was already being tainted... Tainted with the knowledge of what was to come.





	be the man i know you are meant to be

Cold sweat. It was a familiar feeling for Shiro as of late. The stickiness of his hair on his forehead and the dampness of the sheets under his back… It didn’t bother him much anymore. Nothing really bothered him except the dreams. 

Shiro found that the dreams – no, the _nightmares_ – were too much to bear. Sleep had evaded him for weeks now. Every time he closed his eyes, the image of those crystal-cut, purple eyes staring back at him projected onto his eyelids. If he had known that was the last time he would see those eyes so full of kindness, he would have taken in all the details surrounding them - preserved the memory. It was already being tainted... Tainted with the knowledge of what was to come.

When he thought too much about it, the shudders would sound. A deep noise spurring from his stomach – the sound of a groan echoing in his empty cabin in the Atlas. His body would vibrate with anxiety and fear and pain… Oh, the pain. Sometimes, it was released in screams and shouts. Other times, sobs that shook his whole body.  

It was sobs tonight.

_“No, Keith, don’t!” Shiro called, reaching for Keith’s arm. He caught Keith just before he could storm away in his anger._

_“Shiro, you can’t expect me to stand by here and do nothing!” Keith had a fire, a determination, in his eyes that Shiro hadn’t seen in quite some time. It was like he was truly seeing him for the first time since they’d returned to Earth._

_The more time Keith had spent on Earth, the more his Galran features seemed to expose themselves – more proof that Keith was not meant for this world. His dark, crystal-cut irises now gleamed purple, and the whites of his eyes had a tint of yellow. Sharper canine teeth had developed, and when Keith growled, they bared themselves at Shiro. While the scar from Shiro’s weapon had marred one of his Galra marks, another one mirrored on his left cheek._

_“Please. Let me go instead.”_

_“What?!” Keith exclaimed. “No! This is my fight. Haggar… she’s been playing with me since the day we started this mission. I will not let her win!”_

_“Keith,” Shiro pleaded. “Don’t do this. Please, just let me-”_

_Then it came. A dam of emotions burst though. “I can’t lose you again!” He threw his hands in anger, and his bayard cut through the floor. “The Galra has taken you away from me too many times! I’ve have lost you and found you too many times for me to count!” He was screaming, but after a moment of silence, his voice broke. “I-I am tired. We can’t keep doing this.” Keith paused, taking time to look into Shiro’s eyes. “I am ending this war._ Now _."_

_Shiro felt his grip start to weaken at the sight of him. When had Keith become so beautiful?_

_“Keith.”_

_When the name left Shiro’s mouth, he was shocked at how the desperation sat in his throat, twisting his tone. Shiro gripped Keith’s arm, and in one swift movement, pulled him to his chest. When their lips met, Shiro felt… complete. For one second, there was no war… There were no Galra attackers… It was just him and Keith._

_It was a simple peck, nothing more, but when Shiro pulled away, Keith’s eyes were wide with shock. Shiro reached forward, cupping Keith’s cheek softly with his left hand. Skin-to-skin contact – he craved so much more than just a simple caress._

_Keith placed his hand on Shiro’s, closing his eyes for a moment in content. “You have never given up on me,” he murmured. “You’ve never stopped believing in me… Thank you.”_

_Shiro thought back to their battle at the clone facility, the memories – physical and mental – still a part of him. He could hear it clear as day, Keith’s rough voice squeezing out an “I love you” as Shiro towered over him, sword ready to remove this shining beacon from his life._

_Shiro thought back to his dreams in the cryo-pod, how he recalled hardly more than his life with Keith, the moments that made them the strong pair they were today and how the only thing that stopped those dreams was a calling heard distantly, pulling him back to reality._

_“I love you, too.”_

_Content washed away, replaced by shock once more. “You remember…?”_

_“Yes,” Shiro whispered, caressing his cheek. “Now, go. Be the man I know you are meant to be. I’ll be waiting for you when you get back.”_

Shiro was still waiting.

Because it was better than settling for the fact that Keith wasn’t coming back. It was better than remembering how Krolia screamed as she saw the light flicker and dim in the knife that was tied to Keith’s life source. Was better than reliving the discovery of Keith’s broken body across a cackling witch, blood metaphorically staining her hands. Better than prying him out of his cracked armor. Than securing his bayard, just two feet away. Looking at the eyes that had just gazed up him so softly, now lifeless and dull.

Yes, waiting was much more manageable.

The war was over. Shiro had nothing to show for that but a medal of honor.

Shiro was accredited with securing the victory – by striking down Haggar in a moment of high-stakes, final battle. But it ignored the attempt of Keith – the man who had killed druids and faced the anger of the one he loved to save him, the man who had single-handedly slain Sendak and rightfully ended the assault on Earth, the man who had time and time again been on the other end of saving Shiro…

Shiro should have been able to save him, just this once.

Alas, he always seemed to be too late to return the favor.

**Author's Note:**

> Follow me on [Tumblr](http://shrewbuddysings.tumblr.com) for more Voltron screaming.  
> (I'm also really into jeith right now. If you'd like to see a jeith style follow-up to this, let me know!)


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